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Protesters menace Israeli diplomat in Britain

April 29, 2010

LONDON (JTA) -- Pro-Palestinian protesters tried to attack the deputy ambassador of Israel to Britain.

Protesters lunged at Talya Lador-Fresher following her lecture Wednesday at the University of Manchester. The envoy, who was not hurt, told Britain's Jewish Chronicle that she feared she would be physically assaulted by the protesters.

Lador-Fresher was removed from the area by a security vehicle, which she entered from the back entrance of the lecture hall. The demonstrators attacked the car, some holding Palestinian flags up to the windows and others climbing on the hood and trying to smash the windshield, according to reports.

“I don’t think they wanted to kill me, but I genuinely believed they wanted to physically hurt me," she said. "If I had not had the police and security team, I would have been beaten up.”

Lador-Fresher told the Jewish Chronicle that “No foreign diplomat should have to go through what I went through.”

She had been scheduled to give the lecture in February, but it was postponed following reports of planned demonstrations and the inability of university authorities to properly protect her. At that time, more than 300 protesters from the Action Palestine student society scuffled with Jewish students and police.

The lecture was scheduled for Wednesday, when police and university authorities said they were prepared to deal with the demonstrators, including a complete lockdown of the building, a high-level security presence, ID checks at the door and ticket-only arrangements.

 

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